The Ohio State basketball team is among a bunch of other teams fighting to stay on the right side of the NCAA tournament bubble this year. Ohio State got a massive win on Sunday, defeating Purdue 82-74. The win improves the Buckeyes to 18-11 this season.

“The win the bubble Buckeyes desperately needed,” college basketball analyst Andy Katz posted to X, formerly Twitter.

Ohio State is listed as one of the Big Ten teams with “work to do” to make the tournament, per an ESPN report.

“Recovering from back-to-back losses against Michigan State and Iowa, the Buckeyes picked up a huge win for their at-large chances Sunday. The victory over Purdue boosted their numbers into the 70% range, making their tournament profile one of the most interesting in the nation,” network reporter Neil Paine wrote.

Ohio State basketball was also listed as one of the first four teams left out of the NCAA tournament, per ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi. He listed the Buckeyes in that category on February 27.

The Buckeyes are now 10-8 in the Big Ten after the win Sunday.

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Ohio State may have done enough to be in by defeating Purdue

The Buckeyes are certainly giving the NCAA tournament selection committee a lot to think about. Ohio State plays in the brutal Big Ten. Nine conference teams from that league are projected to be in March Madness, per Lunardi's latest projections.

“Even after beating Purdue, they aren't far from the cutline both nationally and for a projected nine- or 10-bid Big Ten. But notching their first Quadrant 1-A win of the year was big before games against Penn State and bubble rival Indiana to close the schedule,” Paine wrote.

Ohio State shot 51 percent from the field Sunday, to ultimately knock off the Boilermakers. The Buckeyes got arguably their biggest win of the year. It was the team's first win of the campaign against a ranked team.

Ohio State next plays Penn State on Wednesday. The Buckeyes can ill-afford to stumble after posting this emotional victory.